New Manga- xxxHolic 5/20/10

Watanuki Kimihiro is a normal highschool student, except for one thing...He has the unwanted ability to see spirits. One day, he stumbles upon the magical shop owned by Yuuko Ichihara, a entrancing woman who can grant any wish...but a price must be payed for her services.

Watanuki wishes he would be free of his ability to see spirits, and works at Yuuko's shop to pay off the debt he now owes. Running errands, cooking and cleaning, Watanuki discovers that there is more to the world than meet the eye. And, as Yuuko says, everything is inevitable. "Everything is governed by Hitzuzen"....
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Gwen was the first one to show this to me. It's written and illustrated by CLAMP. I do like this manga alot, but it has some pretty religious ideas about things. The spirits for one. But the idea that everything is pre-ordained is something you have to think about. I'm not sure if I can really explain my stand on the problems with this; it's just one of those that you have to judge for yourself.

Anyway, it's still really good. The story is well planned, and the characters are well-developed over the course of the story. It keeps you thinking: "What's going to happen with this??", "How is he going to deal with that?"

The infamous CLAMP Universe is also at work here. xxxHolic closely ties with Tsubasa Chronicles.

For example...In Tsubasa, the group is faced with a wall of magic that nobody can get through. So, they call Yuuko through Mokona, and she gives them a black, swirling ball. Syaoran throws it at the wall, and the magic breaks. Where did Yuuko get that??

Well, back in the xxxHolic world, Yuuko perposed a 100 ghost story night. Watanuki, Domeki (Watanuki's friend/rival) , Himawari (Watanuki's love interest) and Yuuko all gather in Domeki's grandfather's temple. One of the barriers that Yuuko put up broke, and spirits began to attack Watanuki. Domeki then shot all of them with a single, purifing arrow and turned them all into a ball. Yuuko then gave it to Syaoran when it was time. See? It really ties in nicely, right?